Blog

Get Out!

Feb 25, 2013

The outdoor temperatures this weekend were finally warm enough that we could hit the water for a few paddles—four miles on Saturday and another four on Sunday. It felt great to get out there, even if the water on Percy Priest Lake was just 47 degrees. One of the fishermen we passed said the fish start biting at 50 degrees. The fisherman wasn’t the only one wanting the water to warm, at those temperatures we really did not want to fall.

But despite paddling with great caution and making sure not to take a swim in that water, we felt great after paddling, better than we have inside at the gym during the past few weeks. That experience, combined with this New York Times blog post by Gretchen Reynolds, underscores the importance of exercising outside. There’s a 100% chance of rain in Nashville tonight, so we won’t be able to paddle outdoors much this week. But at least we now know that there’s some science behind the fact that we can’t wait until it is paddling weather every day.